AHA submits health IT feedback to senators

AHA News NowMay 17, 2013

The AHA today submitted comments to six Republican senators in response to their white paper and request for stakeholder feedback on federal progress to promote health information technology adoption and standards. AHA Executive Vice President Rick Pollack said hospitals are making progress in adopting electronic health records, but expressed concern that small and rural hospitals are lagging behind their large urban counterparts. He also expressed concern that meaningful use rules under the Medicare and Medicaid EHR incentive programs continue to be too complex and burdensome, but said it would be unfair to those who have made significant investments if Congress were to stop the incentive payments. He also shared AHA’s suggestions for removing barriers to health information exchange; recommended improvements to meaningful use audits; and said hospitals and physicians “need to know that the EHRs and other tools they purchase are transparent and support compliance with current coding conventions.”